Bill would help first responders

COLONIE, N.Y. » U. S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is calling for passage of an Opioid Crisis Response Act, which contains provisions to help first responders who deal with overdose incidents.

If approved, the bill would give first responders tools to treat overdosed patients such as Narcan, and equipment to protect themselves from incidental exposure to dangerous opioids such fentanyl, which can be deadly in even the smallest doses.

“Our first responders here in the Capital Region are heroes, who work tirelessly to save lives by preventing and treating opioid overdoses,” Schumer said during an event at the Public Safety Building in Colonie. “However, we still need to provide them with every single resource possible as the opioid epidemic continues to ravage communities across the region.”

One provision of the bill requires the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to release information, and authorizes a grant program, to educate officials on how to best administer treatment after an overdose, how to support and care for patients in their recovery from an opioid overdose, and how to administer Narcan and similar medication.

Another provision authorizes additional funding for first responders to purchase equipment that can screen suspected illicit substances like fentanyl, and prevent exposure to them.

Researchers say the opioid epidemic has contributed to the United States’ drop in life expectancy, Schumer said.

A separate report conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics titled, “Drug Overdose Deaths in the United States,” says that the rate of drug overdose deaths in 2016 was 21 percent higher

than in 2015.

Specifically, in 2016 there were more than 63,600 drug overdose deaths in the United States, and more than 42,200 of them were attributed to opioids; in 2015 more than 52,400 deaths were attributed to overdoses, and 33,000 of them involved opioids.

The rate of drug overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids, like fentanyl, doubled between 2015 to 2016, from 3.1 to 6.2 per 100,000.

In the Capital Region, there were 111 opioid deaths in 2016, a five percent increase from a year prior.